Beautiful Mistake [a Roman Reigns story]

7 A long day

Roman POV

Nervously I stared at the house in whose driveway I was now standing. My whole life had turned upside down a few hours ago and it was hard to get that into my head. First the sight of Lily after such a long time. She still looked as beautiful as she did back then. Maybe even more beautiful.

All it took was one look into her eyes and that familiar feeling of butterflies was back. Even though I actually thought I had overcome it. Or at least partly. I couldn't have been more wrong.

I didn't need to fool myself. I was still head over heels in love with this woman. In fact, I should be furious with her. But part of me had always understood why she had left.

And then there was the knowledge that I had another daughter. Something else I should be furious about. I should be pissed off that Lily kept me away from Maya for so long. But I felt nothing of the sort. At least not at the moment.

I took a deep breath as I got out of the car and climbed the few steps to the door. At the moment, I wasn't sure how this could go on. All I knew was that I wanted to spend time with Lily, but especially with Maya.

She was the most important thing. My daughter I didn't knew anything about. I didn't know when she was born or what her middle name was. I didn't know if she had allergies or what her favorite toy was. And I was just as much a stranger to her.

I shook my head to get those thoughts out of my head. After all, she knew I was her dad. She had sensed it instinctively. 

Hesitantly I ring the doorbell and wait for the door to open. It didn't take long for Lily to poke her head out. She gave me a guilty little smile as she opened the door further and I saw that she had Maya in her arms.

As soon as the little girl saw me, she reached out her arms to me. Gladly I took her in my arms. Immediately she snuggled up to my shoulder. Almost as if she had never done anything else. As if she had known me all her life.

"Hi Dada. " she said as she put her hand to my neck.

"Hi angel. How are you and your mommy?" I replied and then gave her a kiss on the hair.

"I hungry." she said.

"We're fine. We were just about to have dinner. Come on in, I'll fix you a plate," Lily said then.

I carried little Miss Maya into the house and together we followed her mommy to the dining room table. Carefully I put Maya in her high chair. Immediately she pulled her plate closer to her and began to eat.

"Here. Let me know if you want more." said Lily as she placed a full plate of mashed potatoes, carrots and grilled chicken breast on the table in front of me.

"How are you feeling?" I wanted to know as she sat down and began to eat as well.

She kept looking at Maya, but she wouldn't look at me. I saw her swallow hard.

"It's hard to say. I wonder what we'll do next." she replied softly.

"We'll figure it out..." I said just as softly.

"I'd prefer you yell at me. Well... when Maya isn't around. I would have understood if you yelled at me right away." said Lily as she poked at her food.

"And what exactly would that do? What would it change? Nothing at all... It is what it is. You made a decision that can't be undone." I replied until suddenly Maya started tugging on my sleeve.

"Dada, Dada..." she said and kept tugging.

"What's wrong, baby girl? What do you need?" I wanted to know as I turned my attention to her.

"Cup." she replied, pointing to her cup that was a little out of her reach.

"Here, angel." I said as I handed it to her.

"Listen, Lily... I'm really trying to do this right. But we can only do this together. I know you're scared. Of a whole lot of things probably. But we can work this out." I explained as I reached for her hand and squeezed it gently.

---------------------------

A few hours later, I was sitting on the couch with Lily. After her bedtime routine, Maya was sound asleep by now. It was very quiet in the house as Lily showed me endlessly many photos and videos of our daughter.

Some of these photos reminded me very much of Jojo and the boys although Maya was clearly her own little person. Still, one could not deny a certain resemblance to her siblings. Only her eyes...she clearly got those from her mommy.

Lily told me everything I wanted to know. And things she thought I should know. I soaked up every little detail. At the same time I was impatient for more. But eventually it got late. Lily yawned several times before she finally fell asleep on the couch while I was still looking at photos.

Only when I wanted to ask her a question did I notice it. Smiling, I stood up and gently lifted her into my arms. And although she was sound asleep, Lily wrapped her arms around my neck and sighed as I carried her carefully into her bedroom.

I put her in bed and tucked her in. For a few minutes I just stood there looking at her. She slept peacefully snuggled into the pillows.

Quietly, I left the room and went to my angel's nursery. I wanted to see her one more time. Maybe I just wanted to make sure she was real.

I sat down in the rocking chair in her room and watched her sleep. With a smile, I leaned back as my eyes grew heavy. After all, it had been a long day for all of us.